1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for improving the versatility of rifles and more specifically to a forend grip configured to provide an electrical discharge weapon (i.e., TASER) which can receive either a cartridge having wire-tethered darts or a strobe light for signaling friends or for blinding enemies.
2. Background Art
TASERs are weapons that can connect a disabling shock from a remote power supply to a violent assailant. The TASER launches a pair of electrically opposed darts with trailing wires from its power supply to an assailant to connect the assailant to the supply. TASERs have a lower lethality than conventional firearms. U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,463 was issued to Cover for the TASER in 1974. Since that time, the TASER has seen application in the United States as a law enforcement tool and the U.S. military has interest in the TASER for policing actions. TASERs are regularly used by peace officers to humanely capture suicidal or otherwise violent, even armed suspects, who are themselves victims of intoxicants, drugs and/or emotional disturbance, without serious injury to suspects, officers or bystanders.
The main problem with the TASER, which has several tactical limitations, is that it is a discrete weapon. To be readily accessible for potential application, it must be separately holstered on the already quite limited space on a peace officer""s utility belt or otherwise on the already quite limited space available for additional ordnance and weight on the person of the peace officer or soldier. Sufficient unused space to holster a TASER may not be available. The TASER is necessarily a relatively large side arm. The space is needed to isolate the weapon""s arcing high voltage circuitry. A typical TASER is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,867 to Murray. At least partially for the above reasons, the TASER has only been deployed on a limited basis by law enforcement, and the TASER has not seen use in military policing actions. Deployment of conventional weapons could be reduced and countless lives saved and injuries avoided, if the TASER were more convenient for peace officers to bear and, thereby, more available for their use.
Combining the TASER with a conventional firearm can overcome the TASER""s heretofore described storage and transport disadvantages. Several patentees, including the inventor herein, have previously attempted to combine the TASER with conventional firearms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,815 issued to Ragner. The Ragner apparatus has proved impractical and has never been commercially manufactured. U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,199 issued to McNulty. With the current state of the art, the ammunition cartridge descried therein can only be manufactured as a minimum 38 to 40 mm diameter and 8xe2x80x3 length cartridge and is, therefore, only suitable for discharge through the barrels of certain breech loading tear gas guns. Manufactured as the discharger cup described in the specification, the apparatus has no transport or storage advantages over discrete TASERs.
In the present invention a TASER and a vertical grip are combined to be attached to the stud post under the forend or the barrel of a conventional long arm. A TASER may also be combined with the forend or barrel of a conventional long arm itself. Stud posts come standard on certain long arms like the M-16 rifle. Stud posts can be installed on single shot and pump action shotgun forends as well. Installation kits are sold for this purpose. The TASER and vertical grip combination eliminates the TASER""s earlier described storage and transport disadvantages. It also eliminates many of the other of the TASER""s problems described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,199 to McNulty at lines 30 to 53 of Column 3 and lines 1 to 39 of Column 4. The TASER is less likely to be fired at an ineffectively close range because the firearm barrel extending beyond the TASER""s launcher, serves as a stand off. Conventional firearms used for home protection need not be kept loaded, thereby, risking injury and death to innocent children and others, as the combined TASER can serve as the first line of home defense. If a TASER deployment should fail or if a confrontation should escalate, the peace officer or soldier would have the conventional firearm for immediate backup. Moreover, the TASER may alternately serve as a signaling device or rescue beacon for both combatants or sportsmen in need of rescue. The TASER power supply can serve as a power source for a strobe lamp, which may be sighted by rescuers either visually or with infrared night viewing or other special viewing equipment for miles. The optical signal could be produced in the infrared, visible light and ultraviolet light regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible light occupies the region with wavelengths from approximately 400 nanometers to 700 nanometers. When produced outside of the visible light region of the spectrum the signal would be visible to rescuers with special viewing equipment while the signaler remained concealed to less technically sophisticated enemies. The signal lamp is inserted into a TASER""s firing chamber in lieu of an ammunition cartridge. The TASER power supply""s high voltage output might alternatively be switched from the TASER""s firing chamber to the lamp. It would be undesirable to operate both the lamp and shock circuits simultaneously as this would likely give away the combatants position to his enemies. With either configuration, after the lamp or beacon is switched on, the frequency of the power output might be decreased to extend operation time. When detached from the rifle, the forend grip lantern might also serve as a roadside hazard marker or as a landing zone marker for emergency helicopters.